This application relates to nondestructive materials characterization, particularly quantitative, model-based characterization of surface, near-surface, and bulk material condition for flat and curved parts or components using magnetic field based or eddy-current sensors. Characterization of bulk material condition typically includes (1) measurement of changes in material state, i.e., degradation/damage caused by fatigue damage, creep damage, thermal exposure, or plastic deformation; (2) assessment of residual stresses and applied loads; and (3) assessment of processing-related conditions, for example from aggressive grinding, shot peening, roll burnishing, thermal-spray coating, welding or heat treatment. It also includes measurements characterizing a material, such as alloy type, and material states, such as porosity and temperature. Characterization of surface and near-surface conditions includes measurements of surface roughness, displacement or changes in relative position, coating or material layer thickness, temperature and coating condition. Each of these characterization types includes detection of electromagnetic property changes associated with either microstructural and/or compositional changes, electronic structure (e.g., Fermi surface) or magnetic structure (e.g., domain orientation) changes, stress variations (e.g., in magnitude, orientation or distribution), or other features such as the presence of single or multiple cracks, inclusions, or localized corrosion.
Conventional eddy-current sensing involves the excitation of a conducting winding, the primary, with an electric current source of prescribed frequency. This produces a time-varying magnetic field, which in turn is detected with a sensing winding. The spatial distribution of the magnetic field and the field measured by the secondary is influenced by the proximity and physical properties (electrical conductivity and magnetic permeability) of nearby materials. When the sensor is intentionally placed in close proximity to a test material, the physical properties of the material can be deduced from measurements of the impedance between the primary and secondary windings. In some cases, only the self-impedance of the primary winding is measured. Traditionally, scanning of eddy-current sensors across the material surface is then used to detect features, such as cracks.
In many inspection applications, large surface areas of a material need to be tested. This inspection can be accomplished with a single sensor and a two-dimensional scanner over the material surface. However, use of a single sensor has disadvantages in that the scanning can take an excessively long time and care must be taken when registering the measured values together to form a map or image of the properties. These shortcomings can be overcome by using an array of sensors, but each sensor must be driven sequentially in order to prevent cross-talk or cross-contamination between the sensors. An example is given in U.S. Pat. No. 5,047,719, which discloses the use of a flexible sensor arrays and a multiplexer circuit for measuring a response in the vicinity of each individual array element. Another example is given in U.S. Pat. No. 3,875,502 which discloses a single rectangular drive coil and multiple sense coils, including offset rows of sensing elements for complete coverage when scanned over a surface in a direction perpendicular to the longest segments of the drive coil. The sense coils are oriented in the vertical direction so that only the horizontal component of the magnetic flux is detected and measurement signal is non-negligible only when the sensor array is passed over a local anomaly. U.S. Pat. No. 5,793,206 provides another array example in which multiple sense elements are placed within a single sensor drive footprint. With known positions between each array element, the material can be scanned in a shorter period of time and the measured responses from each array element are spatially correlated. The teachings of the above three patents are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
In other inspection applications, there is a need to detect hidden flaws, such as cracks that form beneath fasteners, which means beneath the fastener head, nut, or washers used in the fastened joint. Often, the critical crack size for the structural element containing the fastener is small enough that the crack must be detected before it propagates from beneath the head or nut of the fastener. When the head is flush with the surface of the test material, sliding eddy current probes are commonly used in which the differential response between two coils is measured as the probe is scanned over the fastener. For protruding fastener heads or nuts, other electromagnetic techniques can be used which measure the response from a coil placed over the fastener, as described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,271,393, or from a coil mounted beneath a fastener head, as described, for example, in Great Britain Patent 886,247. Typically, the measured response is then compared to the response obtained on a reference sample with a fastener that contains a flaw of known size and has material properties and geometry that match the test material.